I am going to post this here. I am not sure where to post it but it has to do with ratings overall.

Our local news did a special report today about certain shows that have become staples on some cable channels - mentioning that the cable channels cannot find anything to replace them with that works. And that ratings for the shows often do better than the competition on the main networks.

One of the shows was Law & Order on TNT which has been a staple show on their lineup for several years now. They also mentioned Golden Girls on Lifetime, Law & Order: SVU on USA, crime dramas like Matlock, Perry Mason and the like on Hallmark, and I Love Lucy on TV Land.

They said L&O and GG on their networks were the two longest though. They said both shows do exceptionally well to be on cable. And they have very high viewerships in older viewers according to the report.

As I have said before I think the worst thing that soaps ever did was to turn their backs on their older viewers. Older viewers were the staple audiences of soaps for years and years. They were loyal and I know like me it was from the older viewers (in particular my grandparents) that I learned to watch soaps. For a long time CBS seemed to be the only network interested in the older viewers in daytime, but I think even in the last year or so they have given up on them.